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Legislative Update #17, May 4, 2001

SIERRA CLUB - Grand Canyon Chapter
812 North Third Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85006
(602) 253-8633  Fax (602) 258-6533
grandcanyon@qwest.net

To: Conservation Friends
From: Sandy Bahr, Conservation Outreach Director, Sierra Club
Date: May 4, 2001
Re: Legislative Update #17

Hi all! The Legislature has wrapped up its environmental legislation for the session and will only be back next week to look at some budget issues. While we have seen much worse sessions from an environmental perspective, it still was not what I would call a positive session for environmental protection. They did nothing on growth management -- although several attempts to push through more sprawl promoting bills did fail. They took a step backward on some air issues and did nothing meaningful to deal with diesel fuel issues. The attempts to scuttle the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan were thwarted -- for now. The biggest surprise for me this session was a few bad bills actually died in House Committees. While not a miracle, it's something we have not seen in awhile.

Here is information on some of the bills and also an important alert regarding the Mexican Gray Wolf. Next week, I will send you the environmental report card and then that is all you will hear from me for a while -- at least on legislative matters.

This week please call Governor Hull and ask her to veto HB2420 referendum; required signatures! This is an insidious bill that moved quietly through the process. It failed the first time in the Senate, but was brought back by a motion for reconsideration. HB2420 allows cities and towns to change the method for calculating the number of signatures needed on a referendum petition to 10% of all registered voters instead of 10% of those who voted in the last general election.  This means it will be much more difficult to qualify a referendum at the local level as it will increase dramatically the number of signatures needed on petitions. Please ask the governor to veto this anti-neighborhood bill. You can reach her office at 602-542-4331 or toll free 1-800-253-0883, email her at azgov@azgov.state.az.us, or fax her at 602-542-7601. Any communications should be addressed to:

Also, please ask the Governor to sign HB2431 NOW: environment; electronic reporting; chemicals (Landrum, Weason, Avelar, et al.). The bill requires the Arizona Emergency Response Commission to allow reporting of certain hazardous chemicals reports required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know law to be done electronically to the Commission's internet site. It also requires the State Fire Marshal to establish standards under the state fire code for a statewide database that includes hazardous material management plans and hazardous material inventory statements. WE SUPPORT THIS BILL.

HB2426 environment; NPDES program (Huffman, Blendu, Graf, Landrum, et al.) passed both the House and Senate and is on the Governor's desk. I am quite sure she will sign it and I am equally sure that we will oppose any attempt by the Environmental Protection Agency to grant the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) primacy for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program under the conditions in this bill. This measure is supposed to give ADEQ the foundation for taking over control of these permits, which are supposed to limit discharges to surface waters. We remain unconvinced that the legislature will provide adequate funding for the program for the long haul and we object to provisions that prohibit ADEQ from doing anything more stringent than the Clean Water Act. We are also concerned about the level of enforcement -- in the bill everything is discretionary -- and about how ADEQ will address endangered species issues. We think the agency should be required to consult with U.S. Fish and Wildlife regarding the impact on any endangered species. Finally, the bill limits citizens' ability to appeal agency actions related to these permits. WE OPPOSE THIS.

SB1455 county air quality; procedures (Guenther, Bowers, Huffman, et al.) was brought back for reconsideration and passed the Senate after some extensive lobbying from Arizona Public Service Company and Salt River Project.
The governor signed the bill so it will become law. So much for moving in the right direction on air quality issues. This bill allows the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality or a county to renew an order of abatement requiring compliance with air quality laws, rules or permits for an additional year upon a showing of good cause. Right now, the law requires compliance within one year. Passage of this bill means that an entity could continue to violate our air quality laws for up to two years. This is a special bill to allow APS to fire up two older units (that pollute more) at its west Phoenix facility. WE OPPOSED THIS.

HB2364 northeastern Arizona environmental projects; appropriations (Flake, Brown, Allen, et al.) is on the governor's desk. It appropriates $250,000 to the state land department for distribution to a private nonprofit, the Environmental Economic Communities Organization (EECO), formed by the eastern Arizona counties for planning and implementing of "environmental programs." This is an inappropriate use of the public's dollars. They've already used tax dollars for the incorporation costs and fundraising costs of this private non-profit and for opposition to Proposition 202. Dr. Martin Moore was campaign chair of "Arizonans Against Proposition 202," and is also the director of EECO. WE OPPOSE IT.

HB2538 Brown cloud study; air quality (Allen) passed both the House and Senate. It provides $400,000 in FY 2001-2002 and $2.6 million in FY 2002-2003 to the Voluntary Vehicle Repair and Retrofit Program, expands the Area A boundaries to include areas west of Goodyear and Peoria, as well as a small piece of land on the north end Lake Pleasant. It requires ADEQ to establish and administer a roadside diesel testing program in Area A and Area B and appropriates $400,000 for it. It appropriates $750,000 total to ADEQ to establish a visibility index and about $3 million for alternative fuel refueling stations. It includes some voluntary programs including voluntary use of low-sulfur diesel. It clarifies which pollutants are eligible for the emissions trading program and appropriates $600,000 over two years for it. We are opposed to the trading program, because it does not includes adequate enforcement and public accountability. This will have a pretty limited effect on the Brown Cloud, but the dollars in VVRR program are a plus as is the expansion of Area A. WE SUPPORT IT.

WOLF ALERT!
Please attend this critical
Arizona Game & Fish Commission meeting
on Saturday May 12, 2001
at 1:30 p.m.
at the Manor House Conference Center
located at 415 E. Hwy 70 in Safford Arizona.

The Sierra Club will be helping to arrange carpools, so please call me at (602) 253-8633 or email me at grandcanyon@qwest.net and I will make sure you are included in the carpooling arrangements.

It is critical that you attend this meeting and show your support for the Mexican Gray Wolf recovery program and also for the participation of the Game and Fish Department in this program. It is quite possible that the Commission will vote to withdraw its participation in the program.

Please tell the Commissioners that:

• Good sound science supports wolf recovery and so does the public. Wolves have demonstrated they can hunt and kill prey, bear and rear their young, and do all of the things expected of wild born wolves.
• Wolves played an important role in our southwestern ecosystems in the past and will help restore natural balance and diversity to our native wildlife in the future.
• In the three years the wolves have been in the wild, and especially recently, there have been minimal impacts to nearby communities. The staff of both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department have gone out of their way to accommodate the small, but vocal minority that oppose wolves.
• The Arizona Game and Fish Commission has a trust responsibility for all of Arizona's wildlife and should not leave this program to the federal government alone. Arizona should be a leader in re-establishment of native wildlife species.
• Wolf recovery will continue through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, because it is required by the Endangered Species Act and supported by most Arizonans. If Arizona Game and Fish is not involved then Arizona loses the voice of its own wildlife professionals in this program.
• Nothing in the first three years of this program warrants the Department withdrawing its support.

If you cannot make it to this meeting, please write and send a letter to: Dennis Manning, Chair, Arizona Game & Fish Commission, 2221 W. Greenway Rd., Phoenix, AZ  85023-4399, fax (602) 789-3299, email to mketterer@gf.state.az.us

Thank you for your support of Arizona's wolves and thank you for all your help this year! I really appreciate it. You do make a difference. For more information on legislation go to the web page at www.azleg.state.az.us. If you're outside the Phoenix area, you can call your legislator's office toll free at 1-800-352-8404. In the Phoenix area call (602) 542-3559 (Senate) or (602) 542-4221 (House). Correspondence goes to 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890. To email legislators use first initial+ 7 letters of surname@azleg.state.az.us. If you are not sure who your legislators are, please go to www.vote-smart.org or call the House or Senate information desks.

Page updated: 05/04/01

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Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633